So, I Was Actually a Support-Type Soul Master

After returning to Shrek Academy, Ye Feng gave Ye Qing another week to relax.

They had spent the previous three months training nonstop, then rested for just one day before rushing off to the Star Dou Great Forest to hunt for a soul ring. Because light-attribute soul beasts were so difficult to find, grandfather and grandson had spent more than half a month in the forest.

Never mind Ye Qing-even that old geezer Ye Feng was starting to find it unbearable.

Ye Feng: I worked hard for more than half my life and finally became a Titled Douluo. Can't I enjoy myself a little now? Let the music play and the dancing continue!

Meanwhile, Ye Qing returned to his lazy, salted-fish days of fishing and doing nothing.

During the day, he fished while basking in the Golden Tree's light, enjoying himself as he worked on improving his control over soul power. At night, he went into the Sea God Pavilion to cultivate.

He had to admit that the soul masters of the Douluo Continent had truly crude control over their soul power. Once they couldn't use soul skills, they were practically crippled.

This era was better, since they could still use things like soul tools if their soul skills were unavailable. Ten thousand years ago, though, things had been downright absurd. In Slaughter City, Tang San, a mere Soul King, had been able to slaughter the Soul Douluos and Titled Douluos in the Hell Slaughter Arena like chickens.

Soul power was the most fundamental force within a soul master's body. How could it be something so inconvenient?

Could it only be used to unleash soul skills?

That was far too absurd and narrow-minded.

Although Ye Qing had no plans to develop a self-created soul skill yet, practicing his control over soul power would naturally benefit him.

After all, wasn't his first soul ring's skill all about controlling soul power to create shields?

The more precisely he controlled his soul power, the less he would expend when creating a shield.

And then there was the soul skill of his Wings of Light...

Yes, this external soul bone came with a soul skill called Holy Light Healing. It could heal injuries, and its healing effects were ridiculously powerful, scarcely inferior to the life attribute, which excelled most at healing.

Ye Qing had tested it once himself, cutting a gash in his hand before using Holy Light Healing. The wound had closed at a speed visible to the naked eye.

There hadn't even been time for more than a few drops of blood to escape.

Healing power on this level couldn't be much worse than Nine Heart Begonia, could it?

"Wait, why the fuck am I looking more and more like a support-type soul master?" Ye Qing's expression became indescribable.

He could provide shields and healing.

Thanks for asking. I'm in Douluo, currently six years old, and I'm a healer?

However, Ye Qing clearly hadn't noticed that when he unfurled the Wings of Light and activated Holy Light Healing, his holy, solemn expression and radiant, imposing appearance made him look just like one of those missionary charlatans from certain churches...

His week of slacking off soon passed.

Ye Qing once again plunged into all sorts of training regimens that showed no regard for human limits.

This time, however, he clearly wasn't alone anymore, because that unlucky kid Bei Bei had joined him.

During Ye Qing's week of slacking off, Bei Bei learned that he had obtained his first soul ring and eagerly came to "spar" with him.

The outcome held no surprises.

Ye Qing cast Holy Radiance Protection on himself, and Bei Bei's Thunder Dragon Claw became nothing more than a scraping massage, completely fucking useless.

(You attacked the BOSS)

-

1, -1, -1...

(Attack failed to penetrate defense)

Ye Qing simply stood there, letting Bei Bei unload attacks on him. Bei Bei swung his dragon claws until they practically smoked, unleashing seven or eight Thunder Dragon Claws and draining all his soul power, yet he still couldn't scratch through a single layer of Ye Qing's Holy Radiance Protection.

Then Bei Bei's own defenses crumbled.

He went bawling to Zhang Lexuan for comfort.

This one-sided monkey show also gave Ye Qing a better understanding of his first soul skill. No wonder Ye Feng had called it a god-tier skill for duels.

A normal soul master could almost never unleash a soul power attack three major ranks above their own. This became even more true at higher levels, where crossing each rank was like traversing a heavenly chasm.

Cross three in one go?

Did they think they were the Death Messenger...?

Even the Death Messenger's Corpse Explosion Technique merely detonated corpses to unleash a single Soul Saint-level attack. Once the corpses were blown up, he would be spent.

That blast could, at most, strip away one layer of Ye Qing's shield. As long as he added another layer, wouldn't the spent Death Messenger be as easy to squeeze as cotton?

In future duels against opponents of the same level, almost all of Ye Qing's enemies would end up like Bei Bei, working themselves half to death and facerolling their entire skill rotation, only to discover that they hadn't even scratched through his shield.

Great, great, great. Looks like I'm the healer with the best survivability.

That was what Ye Qing thought.

From that day onward, Bei Bei began striving to improve. Especially after learning that Ye Qing had overtaken him and was now a level higher, he threw himself into cultivation as though his life meant nothing.

Fortunately, he had someone like Mu En backing him, with an endless supply of heavenly treasures to nourish his body.

Why else would people say that the poor studied letters while the rich practiced martial arts?

Without resources, he wanted to push himself to the limit?

Within two years, he would wreck his body. Take Zhou Yi from the outer court, for example: the longer she taught a class, the fewer students remained in it.

It wasn't merely a matter of whether they could endure her training. Their bodies simply wouldn't allow them to continue.

Unfortunately, though.

Compared to Ye Qing, Bei Bei was like a legitimate pay-to-win player facing a hacker. No matter how much money he spent, he couldn't compete with someone who turned on cheats whenever he couldn't win.

With the Golden Tree, Ye Qing's cultivation speed truly was like cheating. On top of that, he never took cultivation lightly. When it was time to fish, he fished and relaxed; when it was time to cultivate, he was meticulous.

Bei Bei maintained the incredibly fast pace of gaining one level every three months. Compared to ordinary soul masters, this was already frightening. After all, at that rate, he was certain to become a Soul Elder before turning twelve.

Ye Qing, however, needed only two and a half months to gain a level. His cultivation speed was soaring.

More than a year later.

Bei Bei was nearly eight, and Ye Qing was seven and a half.

Yet Bei Bei had only just reached level seventeen, while Ye Qing had already broken through to level twenty, becoming a prospective Soul Grandmaster who lacked only a soul ring.

The one-level gap from over a year earlier had not narrowed. Instead, it had widened to three levels.

"Bei, keep it up. We both have innate full soul power, so our talent is about the same!" Ye Qing patted Bei Bei on the shoulder and spoke earnestly.

"Think carefully. Have you really taken your cultivation seriously all these years? Have you slacked off during training? Why is everyone else improving so quickly while you're the only one dragging your feet? Whatever happens, you need to look for the problem in yourself first. Understand?"

Ye Qing's barrage of bullshit remarks, borrowed from a certain top streamer surnamed Li, successfully sent Bei Bei into an overheated rage.

"Ye Qing, just you wait! I refuse to believe you can stay ahead of me forever!" Bei Bei shouted, his face full of defiance. "You'll regret this!"

"Bei, I'm the genius here." Ye Qing's tone was calm.

"You'll regret this!"

BANG!!!

Bei Bei slammed the door and left.